OKKKKK its been a while since I've blogged, actually well over a week, and yes its coming back to that dreaded T word once again. The hard court season is starting to bubble up again in the land of tennis and next week sees the start of the ATP/WTA Rogers Cup in Canada. The two separate tournaments take place in different cities, this year the ladies is in Toronto and the men's are in Canada.
On the men's side the ATP, Britain's numero un is the defending champion, and has been for the last two years running, so the big question remains: can Andy defend his title this year???? I hope so, but there is one man (well two men really) that stand in his way, in Rafa and the Djoker, but who knows, just maybe Andy can pull it oot the bag and make a bit of history as if he does win, he will be the first man since Ivan Lendl to win in Canada three times running. But Djokovic seems the most likely winner as there is very little he hasn't won this year, with Federer handing him his only loss this year back at the French Open semi final. But as rivals go, Andy could well be defeated by Rafa and then Rafa could face Djokovic in the final once more and if they do I think it could be a very easy victory for Djokovic, I might be wrong but its waiting to happen. But so far this year Andy has had a pretty good year so far, the awful first leg of his hard court season not withstanding he's reached three Grand Slam semi finals (one final), won his 2nd Queens title, reached three clay court semi finals, and has won every single match of his Davis Cup tie. Now as the hard court season resumes for Andy we will see how he resorts back to his best surface.
Also the the US Open is just round the corner too as at the end of the month the fourth and final grand slam of the year will commence at Flushing Meadows in New York. But I really do tip Djokovic to win that one, there is practically no one that can stand in his way now. However there is another way you can look at that one, in terms of nemesis, Rafa is Federer's nemesis, Djokovic is Rafa's nemesis, and just maybe Andy could be Djokovic's nemesis. Can he steal the US Open title from him???? Hmmmmm, to be honest nah, however if he does win in Montreal then it could signal a good start. And so far Andy has played more consistently in the grand slams this year so if he can make it to another semi final this year then it would very impressive and even more so if he could take it two steps further. But it has to be said if Andy is going to hold onto his Rogers Cup title in Canada, then he's going to have a hell of a tough time doing so as he has a rather brutal draw. In the 2nd round he could face South African giant Kevin Anderson, who might not trouble him too much, but after that it gets much tougher as its possibly Stan Wawrinka (who defeated him at the US Open last year), then his nemesis Mardy Fish (who's leads there head to head 4-3 in Fish's favour), followed by Rafa and then the new World No.1 Djokovic. Its very tough ask but you never know, he might pull it oot the bag, he did it last year so who knows. But then Djoko isn't the same player as last year, so it could well be his.
So that's the men, for the woman on the WTA tour, Caroline Wozniacki is the defending champion for the Rogers Cup, although I recently heard that the Wozzer was out of the game with a shoulder injury but I'd imagine she will be back in to defend her title. I would quite like to see Caz defend her title too, it would also make for a nice symmetry if she went to win the US Open and so did Andy, both of them are counterpunchers in playing style. But in looking at the history of the game, most of the players that have gone on to win grand slams are aggressive players, not counterpunchers, and therefore take more chances. Regardless the Rogers Cup on both sides should make for a very entertaining and exciting tournament and doubtless I will be blogging away on that over the next few days doubtless of the outcomes. Caroline similarly has quite a tough draw to Andy, as she potentially faces Vera Zvonareva, Dominika Cibulkova, Andrea Petkovic and Li Na, all of whom have beaten her this year alone, as well as Sam Stosur and Agnieszka Radwanska.
On a slightly different note I had also recently read that the ladies British No.1 Elena Baltacha might be considering retirement new year after the 2012 Olympics, which would be a great shame for woman's tennis to see her go. Elena has had a many struggles with injuries over the years though and she did say herself that she felt she might not want to carry on only put her body through more pain, and your health has to come first. Elena also stated she would love the opportunity to play doubles with the Muzza at the Olympics and well it might yet happen. Speaking of which the next Davis Cup tie for Great Britain will take place again at the Braehead Arena next month from 16th-18th September, and I'm going on the 17th and 18th, so it will be terrific to see the British team once more as well as the Muzza. Andy already secured their victory against Luxembourg and if he continues to play in the Davis Cup he can ensure that Great Britain can go places in the event, so let's hope he carries on.
So that's enoughhhh for the tennis.... for the timebeing..........
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